The

John Adair
Handbook
of

Management
and Leadership
Edited by Neil Thomas

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Chapter 6
Leadership and teambuilding

Leadership
Qualities of leadership
Functions of leadership
Leadership skills
Developing leadership skills
Teambuilding
Summary and six-month follow-up test

This chapter of the book is divided into two parts:

A. Leadership and B. Teambuilding.

A. Leadership
A survey of successful chief executives on the attributes most
valuable at top levels of management indicated the following in order
of rating:
1

Ability to take decisions

14 Capacity to speak lucidly

LEADERSHIP

15 Astuteness

Integrity

Enthusiasm

16 Ability to administer
efficiently

Imagination

17 Open-mindedness

Willingness to work hard

18 Ability to stick to it

Analytical ability

Understanding of others

19 Willingness to work long

hours

Ability to spot opportunities

10 Ability to meet unpleasant

situations

20 Ambition
21 Single-mindedness
22 Capacity for lucid writing

11 Ability to adapt quickly to

change

23 Curiosity

12 Willingness to take risks

25 Capacity for abstract thought

24 Skill with numbers

13 Enterprise
There is (has and probably always will be) a debate about the
differences and overlaps of leadership and management. Current
opinion is that they are different concepts but they overlap
considerably.

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The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

Management

Leadership

Perhaps management has the overtone of carrying out objectives

laid down by someone else. It is certainly true that a well-managed
business, in the sense of having perfect organisation, still needs that
extra something.
Leadership has five distinctive nuances not found in management.
A leader must:
1

Give direction

Provide inspiration

Build teams

Set an example

Be accepted.

Henri Fayol (in 1916) divided the activities of an industrial company

into six main groups:
1

Technical:

production, manufacture, adaptation

Commercial:

buying, selling, exchange

Financial:

search for and optimum use of capital

Security:

protection of property and people

Accounting:

stocktaking, balance sheet, costs, statistics

Administration:

forecasting and planning, organising,

commanding, co-ordinating and controlling.

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

119

Good administration is the hallmark of good management and the

proper and efficient use of resources. Managers become leaders when
their personality and character, their knowledge and functional
skills of leadership are recognised and accepted by the others
involved.
Leadership can be specific to the particular situation and its
authority can derive from:
1

position (as in job title, rank or appointment),

personality (as in natural qualities of influence) and

knowledge (as in technical professional skills).

Fayol listed these following qualities as being needed by a person

in command. A person in command should:

have a thorough knowledge of employees

eliminate the incompetent

be well versed in the agreements binding the business and its

employees

set a good example

conduct periodic audits of the organisation and use summarised

charts to further this review

bring together the chief assistants by means of conferences at

which unity of direction and focusing of effort are provided for

not become engrossed in detail

aim at making unity, energy, initiative and loyalty prevail among

all employees.

Qualities of leadership
A leader is the kind of person (with leadership qualities) who has
the appropriate knowledge and skill to lead a group to achieve its

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ends willingly. This section looks at the qualities and functions of

leadership.
Personality and character cannot be left out of leadership.There are
certain generic leadership traits and seven important ones are:

Seven qualities of leadership

1

Enthusiasm: try naming a leader without it!

Integrity:

meaning both personal wholeness and sticking to

values outside yourself, primarily goodness and
truth this quality makes people trust a leader

Toughness:

demanding, with high standards, resilient,

tenacious and with the aim of being respected
(not necessarily popular)

Fairness:

impartial, rewarding / penalising performance

without favourites, treating individuals
differently but equally

Warmth:

the heart as well as the mind being engaged,

loving what is being done and caring for people
cold fish do not make good leaders

Humility:

the opposite of arrogance, being a listener and

without an overwhelming ego

Confidence: not over-confidence (which leads to arrogance),

but with self-confidence which people know
whether you have or have not got it

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

121

In testing whether or not you have the basic qualities of

leadership, you should ask yourself these questions.

YES

NO

Am I an active and socially participative person?

















Do I have the self-confidence to take criticism,

indifference and/or unpopularity from others?



Can I control my emotions and moods or do I let them

control me?



Have I been dishonest or less than straight with people

who work for me over the past six months?



Am I very introvert, very extrovert (or am I an ambivert

mixture of both as leaders should be)?



Do I possess the above mentioned seven qualities? (This

test will subsequently reveal whether or not you really
do!)
Have I demonstrated that I am a responsible person?
Do I like the responsibility and the rewards of leadership?
Am I well-known for my enthusiasm at work?
Have I ever been described as having integrity?
Can I show that people think of me as a warm person?

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The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

If leadership depends on the situation, you need to ask

yourself, whatever your qualities, whether you are right
for the situation:
YES

NO

Are your interests, aptitudes and temperament suited to

your current field of work?



If not, can you identify one that would better suit you
where you would emerge as a leader?



Do you have the authority of knowledge in your current

field (and have you acquired all the necessary professional
and specialist skills through training that you could have
done at this point in your career?)



Are you experienced in more than one field/industry/

function?



Are you interested in fields adjacent and relevant to your

own?



Do you read situations well and are you flexible in your

approach to changes within your field?



Functions of leadership
In leadership, there are always three elements or variables:
1

The leader:

qualities of personality and character

The situation:

partly constant, partly varying

The group:

the followers: their needs and values

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

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This section of the book looks at leadership functions in relation to

the needs of work groups. These needs can be seen as three
overlapping needs:
1 Task need:
2 Team maintenance
needs:
3 Individual needs:

to achieve the common task

to be held together or to maintain
themselves as a team
the needs which individuals bring with
them into the group.

These three needs (the task, team and individual) are the watchwords
of leadership and people expect their leaders to:

help them achieve the common task

build the synergy of teamwork and

respond to individuals and meet their needs.

The task needs work groups or organisations to come into being

because the task needs doing and cannot be done by one person
alone.The task has needs because pressure is built up to accomplish
it to avoid frustration in the people involved if they are prevented
from completing it.
The team maintenance needs are present because the creation,
promotion and retention of group/organisational cohesiveness is
essential on the united we stand, divided we fall principle.
The individual needs are the physical ones (salary) and the
psychological ones of:

124

recognition

a sense of doing something worthwhile

status

the deeper need to give and to receive from other people in a

working situation.

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

The Task, Team and Individual needs overlap:

Task needs

Team
needs

Individual
needs

This overlapping is evident in that:

achieving the task builds the team and satisfies the individuals

if team maintenance fails (the team lacks cohesiveness)

performance on the task is impaired and individual satisfaction
is reduced

if individual needs are not met the team will lack cohesiveness
and performance of the task will be impaired.

Leadership exists at different levels:

Team leadership:

of teams of about 5 to 20 people

Operational leadership:

a significant must in a business or

organisation comprising a number of
teams whose leaders report to you

Strategic leadership:

a whole business or organisation,

with overall accountability for the
levels of leadership below you.

At whatever level of leadership, Task, Team and Individual needs

must be constantly thought about. To achieve the common task,

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

125

maintain teamwork and satisfy the individuals, certain functions have

to be performed. A function is what leaders do as opposed to a quality
which is an aspect of what they are.
These functions (the functional approach to leadership, also called
action-centred leadership) are:

Defining the task

Evaluating

Planning

Motivating

Briefing

Organising

Controlling

Providing an example

Leadership functions in relation to Task,Team and Individual can

be represented by this diagram:

Leadership functions
THE ROLE

FUNCTIONS

Achieving the TASK

Building and
maintaining
the TEAM

Developing the
INDIVIDUAL

Defining the task

Planning
Briefing
Controlling
Evaluating
Motivating
Organising
Providing an example

These leadership functions need to be handled with excellence and

this is achieved by performing those functions with increasing skill.
Before examining the skills of leadership, it is worth seeing where
certain qualities of leadership can be viewed as having functional
value. These can be examined as leadership characteristics.

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The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

Leadership characteristics
THE NEED

QUALITY

FUNCTIONAL VALUE

Task

Initiative

gets the group moving

Perseverance

prevents the group giving up

Efficiency

work done well knowing costs

(energy, time and money)

Honesty

establishing facts

Self-confidence

facing facts

Industry

steady application pays

dividends

Audacity

when not to be restrained by

rules or convention

Humility

facing up to mistakes and

not blaming others

Integrity

integrating the team and

creating trust

Humour

relieving tension and

maintaining a sense of
proportion

Audacity

inspire through originality or

verve

Self-confidence

trusted by others

Justice

fair dealing builds group

discipline

Honesty

wins respect

Humility

not selfish, shares praise, not

arrogant and divisive

Team

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

127

Individual

Tact

sensitive in dealing with people

Compassion

sympathetic awareness and help

Consistency

people know where they stand

Humility

recognises qualities/abilities
and gives credit

Honesty

wins individual respect

Justice

fair-dealing encourages
individuals

Leaders need to exhibit the following attributes / qualities /

characteristics in exercising the functions:
1 Group influence:

to generate a group willingness to achieve

a desired goal/objective

2 Command:

to decide upon a course of action as

quickly as the situation demands and to
carry it through with a firmness and
strength of purpose

3 Coolness:

to remain cool or unperturbed under

testing or trying conditions

4 Judgement:

ability to arrange available resources and

information in a systematic and
commonsense way to produce effective
results

5 Application/
responsibility:

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to demonstrate sustained effort

combined with a degree of dependability
in order to complete a task or achieve an
objective

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

Leadership skills
Having identified the main functions or principles of leadership, there
are skills in providing those functions in different situations and
managers need to develop their abilities to bring those skills to bear
in increasing levels of excellence.
The eight functions (defining the task, planning, briefing, controlling,
evaluating, motivating, organising and setting an example) will now
be examined.

1 Defining the task

A task is something that needs to be done. People in organisations
and teams need to have this distilled into an objective which is :

clear

concrete

time-limited

realistic

challenging

capable of evaluation.

There are five tests to apply to the defining of a task and they are:
i)

Do you have a clear idea of the objectives of your group now

and for the next few years/months which have been agreed with
your boss?

ii) Do you understand the overall aims and purpose of the

organisation?
iii) Can you set your groups objectives into the context of those
larger intentions?
iv) Is your present main objective specific, defined in terms of time
and as concrete/tangible as you can make it?
v) Will the team know for itself if it succeeds or fails and does it
get speedy feedback of results?

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

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In defining the task/communicating the objective you need to have

the following abilities:

To tell the group the objective you have been given

BEWARE: not understanding it yourself can lead to lack of
clarity.

To tell the group what to do and why

BEWARE: giving the reason in terms of a past event rather than
future.

To break down aims into objectives for other groups

BEWARE: not making them specific enough or not making sure
there are enough objectives which add up to complete the aim.

To agree the objective

BEWARE: taking things for granted and not fixing on the
objective.

To relate the aim to the purpose (to answer what and why
questions)
BEWARE: confusing your divisions aim with the purpose of the
organisation.

To define the purpose and check that the aims relate to it and
to each other
BEWARE: not doing it often enough.

To redefine the purpose to generalise it and create more aims

and objectives
BEWARE: causing confusion by doing it too often or not knowing
that it has to be done.

To communicate purpose to employees

BEWARE: using the wrong language, by-passing leaders below
you or relying on others doing it for you.

In defining the task, it needs to be broken down into objectives, aims

and purpose so that it can be communicated with clarity.The end
of the task should also be defined when the need arises and all should
be aware of what the success criteria will be.

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The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

2 Planning
This key activity for any team or organisation requires a search for
alternatives and that is best done with others in an open-minded,
encouraging and creative way. Foreseeable contingencies should
always be planned for.
Planning requires that the what, why, when, how, where and who
questions are answered. Plans should be tested

Checklist to test plans

YES

NO

Have I called upon specialist advice?



Have all feasible courses of action been considered and

weighed up in terms of resources needed/available and
outcomes?



Has a programme been established which will achieve the

objective?
Is there a provision for contingencies?




Were more creative solutions searched for as a basis for

the plan?



Is the plan simple and as foolproof as possible, rather

than complicated?



Does the plan include necessary preparation or training

of the team and its members?



Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

131

In ensuring that there is the appropriate level of participation in the

planning process, the chart below may be useful:

The planning continuum

Use of authority by the leader

Area of freedom for team members

1.
Leader
makes
a plan
and
announces it

2.
Leader
sells
own
plan

3.
Leader
presents
ideas and
invites
questions

4.
Leader
presents
tentative
plan
subject
to change

5.
Leader
presents
problem,
gets
suggestions,
makes plan

6.
Leader
defines
limits; asks
team to
make plan

3 Briefing
Briefing or instructing a team is a basic leadership function conducted
usually in a face-to-face way. Any briefing is an opportunity to:

132

create the right atmosphere

promote teamwork

get to know, encourage and motivate each individual.

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

Before and after any briefing session, to ensure that the question
of what is my role in all this? (which will be on everyones mind)
is answered, you need to ask yourself these questions:
1

Does every individual know exactly what his/her job is?

Does each member of the team have clearly defined targets and
performance standards agreed with me?

Does each person know at the end what is expected of him/her

and how that contribution or that of his/her team fits in with
the purposeful work of everyone else?

Communicating (speaking and listening) is crucial to get right in

any briefing and it centres on the task, team and individual needs
which should be addressed.
The effective speaking attributes of a successful briefing are to be:

prepared

clear

simple

vivid

natural.

Assertiveness can be important. For example, to give the task

direction and in explaining the role of the team/individual, especially
in an initial briefing or where there is low morale.

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

133

In briefings, you could do worse than keep these points in mind:

The Adair short-course

on leadership
1

The six most important words

I admit I made a mistake.

The five most important words

I am proud of you.

The four most important words

What is your opinion?

The three most important words

If you please.

The two most important words

Thank you.

The one most important word

We.

The last, most unimportant word I.

4 Controlling
Excellent leaders get maximum results with the minimum of
resources.
To control others, leaders need to exhibit self-control (but
remembering that anger/sadness can be legitimate responses if the
circumstances warrant it and are themselves mechanisms for
control), to have good control systems (simple and effective to
monitor financial and task performance) and to have control of what
it is that others should and should not be doing in order to meet
objectives. The success at directing, regulating, restraining or
encouraging individual and team efforts on the task (and in
meetings) are the criteria for testing a leaders effectiveness as a
controller.

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The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

A Checklist for testing controlling skills

YES

NO

Do I maintain a balance between controlling too tightly

or giving too much freedom to the team?



Am I able to co-ordinate work-in-progress, bringing

together all the parts in proper relation with each other?



In technical work, do I ensure that team and individual

needs are met?
Do meetings I chair run over time(s) allotted to topics?




Do I have proper budgets and ways of monitoring actual

performance?



Do customers rate my organisations control systems for:






quality of product/service

delivery

costs

safety?






5 Evaluating
Leaders need to be good at:

assessing the consequences

evaluating team performance

appraising and training individuals

judging people.

In assessing the consequences, leaders should be able to foresee the

outcome of action (or inaction) in terms of the technical, the
financial and the human and to ask probing questions of the team
in order to establish the likely consequences.

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

135

In evaluating team performance, perhaps through a de-briefing

session after a particular project, the performance of the team as a
whole in relation to the task can be examined:

Has it been a success, a partial success or a failure?

Can lessons be learnt?

Can action be taken to improve performance?

What feedback can be given to ensure improvement?

The evaluation of the team is helpful in trying to build it into a highperformance one where the hallmarks are:

clear realistic objectives

shared sense of purpose

best use of resources

atmosphere of openness

handles failure

rides out the storms.

In appraising and training individuals, the following agenda can be used:

Past performance

Future work to be done: targets, priorities, standards and

strategies

Matching perceptions of what can be expected by each party

of the other in order to achieve a good working relationship

Improving skill, knowledge, behaviour.

Some tips in handling appraisals:

136

Have all necessary data available

Put the other person at ease

Control pace and direction of the interview

Listen listen listen

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

Avoid destructive criticism (encourage self-criticism)

Review performance systematically

Discuss future action

Discuss potential/aspirations

Identify training/development required

Avoid common pitfalls, such as:

dominating the conversation

making promises unlikely to be kept

expecting dramatic changes overnight

blaming those not present.

In judging people, leaders decide who should do what and this

always affects outcomes and so is a crucial skill. Leaders should not
have favourites because:

it destroys team unity

the favourite is a personification of your judgement about

people if others do not agree with your judgement, your
credibility suffers

favourites advance by recognising the social and esteem needs

of their bosses and by pandering to them the boss can have
his/her judgement impaired by this.

Judgement is improved by analysing impressions formed, discussing

them with others and by making decisions about people more
slowly and after deliberation.
In evaluation, you need to ensure that:

your decision-making judgement is good

you appraise people regularly and well

you are good at judging people

you evaluate your own performance as much as those who work

for you.

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

137

6 Motivating
There are six key principles for motivating others:
1

Be motivated yourself

Select people who are highly motivated

Set realistic and challenging targets

Remember that progress motivates

Provide fair rewards

Give recognition.

Individuals are motivated by their requirements to satisfy a

(Maslows) hierarchy of needs:

Physiological hunger, thirst, sleep

Safety security, protection from danger

Social belonging, acceptance, social life, friendship and love

Esteem self-respect, achievement, status, recognition

Self-actualisation growth, accomplishment, personal

development.

Each individual will be at a different stage/level up this hierarchy

of needs and will need to be motivated accordingly.
Other than in financial terms, individuals are usually motivated if
they can see that they will be given:

138

achievement

recognition

job interest

responsibility

advancement.

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

A good leader provides the right climate and the opportunities for
these needs to be met on an individual basis and this is perhaps the
most difficult of a leaders challenges.
Leaders must also inspire others. In 1987, James Kouzes and Barry
Posner identified five characteristics of what they call exemplary
leaders:
1

Leaders challenge the process. Leaders search for

opportunities.They experiment and take risks, constantly
challenging other people to exceed their own limitations.

Leaders inspire a shared vision. Leaders envision an

enabling future and enlist people to join in that new
direction.

Leaders enable others to act. Leaders strengthen others

and foster collaboration.

Leaders model the way. Leaders set the example for

people by their own leadership behaviour and they plan
small wins to get the process moving.

Leaders encourage the heart. Leaders regard and

recognize individual contributions and they celebrate
team successes.

7 Organising
Good leaders are good at:

organising themselves their own work and particularly how

they manage themselves, their time and how they delegate

organising the team to build and maintain it to ensure that

there is good, effective team-work

organising the organisation the str ucture and the

systems/processes in which, and by which, people operate.

Leaders change things and organise for the achievement of results

leading change requires considerable powers and skills of

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

139

leadership. In all aspects, leaders must organise with a purpose clearly

in mind at all times.
Leaders should consider their organising skills by reference to the
Task, Team and Individual as follows:

Task:

is there a common purpose?

is it broken down into aims and objectives?

Team:

what are the teams/sub-teams?

how do they contribute to the purpose?

Individual:

how is it/are they communicated?

do they relate together as a team?

do they have freedom and discretion?

are individual needs being met?

Further questions in surveying your organisation are :

Do the Task/Team/Individual circles overlap sufficiently to

provide and maintain high morale in the face of difficulties?

How are tensions resolved and are there adequate systems /

disciplinary procedures/dispute handling methods in place?

The size of working teams/groups should be examined to assess the

importance of these factors:

140

Task/technology complexity narrows the span of control, ie.

is the team too big to control/handle this aspect and does it mesh
properly with other teams?

Communications especially with geographical/physical

dispersement, are they good enough?

Motivation and autonomy is the training commensurate with

any wishes to be self-sufficient?

Competence of leaders are large teams led by good enough

leaders, what are the leaders other commitments and does
he/she have good/specialist support?

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

A Checklist to test the

organising function ability

YES

NO

YOU
Can you organise your personal and business life in ways
which would improve your effectiveness as a leader?
Do you delegate sufficiently?




Can you identify improvements in your time

management?



TEAM

Should a sub-team be set up?




Are opportunities/procedures in place to ensure

participation in decision-making?



Do you restructure and change individuals jobs as

appropriate?



Is the size and make-up correct?

ORGANISATION
Do you have a clear idea of its purpose and how the parts
should work together to achieve it?



Are effective systems in place for training/recruitment/

dismissal?



Do you carry out surveys into the size of teams, number

of leadership levels, growth of unnecessary complexity,
line and staff co-operation and properly working
communications systems?



Are you good at administration, recognising the

performance of administrators and ensuring that
administrative systems facilitate excellent performance
from teams/individuals?



Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

141

8 Setting an example
Leadership is example.To be successful, a good leader must walk
the talk. Employees take a fraction of the time to know a leader as
he/she takes to get to know them.The example you are giving is quite
simply you. Whether this is a good or a bad example depends on
the leader.
An example is set in verbal and non-verbal ways and all aspects of
a leaders words and deeds must be considered in the light of this.
If example is contagious, it is worth ensuring that a good one is set
to encourage the qualities sought in others.
Some key questions for good leadership are:

Task do you lead from the front/by example?

Team do you develop your teams standards through

the power of example?

Individual do you view each individual as a leader in

their own right?

Bad example, particularly of hypocrisy, is noticed more than good,

so care must be taken in all that a leader says and does.

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The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

A Checklist to test if
you set a good example

YES

NO

Do you ask others to do what you would be unwilling to

do yourself?



Do people comment on the good example you set in your

work?



Does your (bad) example conflict with what all are trying
to do?



Can you quote when you last deliberately set out to give
a lead by example?
Can you think of ways you could lead by example?




Do you mention the importance of example to team

leaders who report to you?



Developing leadership skills

Organisations (and if you are the leader of one that means you)
should ensure that they have a policy of developing the leadership
potential in all and particularly of newly appointed leaders!
Individuals should also ensure that they focus on developing their
leadership skills by training, reading, analysing and following the
example of good leaders and by assessing, monitoring and improving
their own performance.

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

143

B. Teambuilding
This section looks at teambuilding from the leadership perspective
and, as has been seen, teambuilding is part of the leadership holy
trinity of Task, Team and Individual.
One of the main results of good leadership is a good team:

144

Good leadership
characteristics

Team outcomes

Enthusing

Team members are purposefully busy

and have a basis to judge priorities

Lives values such as integrity

Gives a sense of excitement and

achievement with people willing to
take risks and higher work loads

Leads by example

Consistency in knowing leaders values

Generates good leaders from followers

Is trusted

Aware of own behaviour and

environment

Aspire to leaders example

Intellect to meet job needs

Confidence in leadership

Aware of team and individual needs

The led start to lead (with leader less

indispensable) being delegated to,
coached and supported

Exhibits trust

Inspires confidence and performance

Represents the organisation to the

team and vice versa

Confidence of contribution to aims

and commitment to them

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

In 1985, ICI believed that the outcomes of effective leadership were

that people will:

have a clear sense of direction and work hard and effectively

have confidence in their ability to achieve specific challenging

objectives

believe in and be identified with the organisation

hold together when the going is rough

have respect for and trust in managers

adapt to the changing world

In achieving the task, building the team and developing the individual,
whilst leadership style may differ, effective leadership (in ICIs
findings and its development courses) emphasized that the leader
must do the following:

feel personally responsible for his/her human, financial and

material resources

be active in setting direction and accepting the risks of leadership

be able to articulate direction and objectives clearly and keep

his/her people in the picture

use the appropriate behaviour and methods to gain commitment

for the achievement of specific objectives

maintain high standards of personal performance and demand

high standards of performance from others.

Leaders in teambuilding provide the functions of:

planning

initiating

controlling

supporting

informing

evaluating.

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

145

In relation to teambuilding and the leaders role in terms of the Task,

Team and Individual (which need to be addressed if the Team is to
perform at high levels of achievement) the following three sets of
questions will help analyse and improve the way that teams operate.

1 Task

Achieving the task

146

Purpose:

Am I clear what the task is?

Responsibilities:

Am I clear what mine are?

Objectives:

Have I agreed these with my superior, the

person accountable for the group?

Programme:

Have I worked one out to reach

objectives?

Working conditions:

Are these right for the job?

Resources:

Are these adequate (authority, money,

materials)?

Targets:

Has each member clearly defined and

agreed them?

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

Authority:

Is the line of authority clear

(Accountability chart)?

Training:

Are there any gaps in the specialist skills

or abilities of individuals in the group
required for the task?

Priorities:

Have I planned the time?

Progress:

Do I check this regularly and evaluate?

Supervision:

In case of my absence who covers for me?

Example:

Do I set standards by my behaviour?

2 Team

Building and
maintaining
the team

Objectives:

Does the team clearly understand and

accept them?

Standards:

Do they know what standards of

performance are expected?

Safety standards:

Do they know consequences of

infringement?

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

147

148

Size of team:

Is the size correct?

Team members:

Are the right people working together? Is

there a need for sub-groups to be
constituted?

Team spirit:

Do I look for opportunities for building

teamwork into jobs? Do methods of pay
and bonus help to develop team spirit?

Discipline:

Are the rules seen to be reasonable? Am I

fair and impartial in enforcing them?

Grievances:

Are grievances dealt with promptly? Do I

take action on matters likely to disrupt
the group?

Consultation:

Is this genuine? Do I encourage and

welcome ideas and suggestions?

Briefing:

Is this regular? Does it cover current

plans, progress and future developments?

Represent:

Am I prepared to represent the feelings

of the group when required?

Support:

Do I visit people at their work when the

team is apart? Do I then represent to the
individual the whole team in my manner
and encouragement?

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

3 Individual

Developing
the
individual

Targets:

Have they been agreed and quantified?

Induction:

Does s/he really know the other team

members and the organisation?

Achievement:

Does s/he know how his/her work

contributes to the overall result?

Responsibilities:

Has s/he got a clear and accurate job

description? Can I delegate more to
him/her?

Authority:

Does s/he have sufficient authority for

his/her task?

Training:

Has adequate provision been made for

training or retraining both technical and
as a team member?

Recognition:

Do I emphasise peoples successes? In

failure is criticism constructive?

Growth:

Does s/he see the chance of development?

Does s/he see some pattern of career?

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

149

Performance:

Is this regularly reviewed?

Reward:

Are work, capacity and pay in balance?

The task:

Is s/he in the right job? Has s/he the

necessary resources?

The person

Do I know this person well? What makes

him/her different from others?

Time/attention

Do I spend enough with individuals

listening, developing, counselling?

Grievances:

Are these dealt with promptly?

Security:

Does s/he know about pensions,

redundancy and so on?

Appraisal:

Is the overall performance of each

individual regularly reviewed in
face-to-face discussion?

The good leader in teambuilding must act as:

150

encourager

harmoniser

compromiser

expediter/gatekeeper

standard setter

group observer/commentator

follower.

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

As leader, there must be a clear understanding of:

i)

Team properties

common background/history (or lack of it)

participation patterns

communication

cohesiveness

atmosphere

standards

structure

organisation

changes over time (forming, storming, norming and performing)

both progressive and regressive

how to change the team properties in evidence.

ii) Team roles being defined, but with room left for individual
personality
iii) Team member functions

distinction between content (the what) and process (the how)

of group functioning

difference between behaviour related to the task and behaviour

related to maintenance of the team and that behaviour which
expresses individual idiosyncrasies

team leader functions (as above).

iv) The individual

balancing interests and self-expression of individuals and the

team

the value of the task draws individuals/team together

having sound values motivates individuals in teams.

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

151

v) The overlapping needs of Task, Team and Individual need to be

addressed
vi) Team processes

to see what is really going on

improved decision-making rests on seeing beneath the surface

the pressures that influence the team

calmness creates interdependence within the team and with

the leader

avoid team flight into abstractions

aim for consensus (only where possible)

assess team view of authority to see how processes/decisions

are being affected by it.

vii) Teams within teams

152

watch out for hostility, communication failure and mistrust as

signs of team fragmentation

develop teamwork between teams as well as within them

winning can be as destructive to teams as losing, if not worse,

unless both outcomes are handled well

be aware of teams within teams and act accordingly to regain

cohesiveness or sub-divide.

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

Summary and six-month follow up test

Summary
Leadership centres on:

the leader qualities of personality and character

the situation partly constant, partly varying

the team the followers: their needs and values

the overlapping needs of the Task, Team and Individual

leadership functions can be summarised as:

defining the task

planning

briefing

controlling

evaluating

motivating

organising

providing an example

Teambuilding centres on:

achieving the task

building and maintaining the team

developing the individual.

Chapter 6: Leadership and teambuilding

153

Six-month follow-up test

analysed
Have you
rship
your leade
s
a
e
w knesse
strengths/
r
ssed you
and addre
pment
own develo
s?
need

H
tinu ave yo
u
the ously a
fun
ddr
lead ctions essed
ersh
o
ip? f

con

als
idu al
v
i
ind son
s?
Do e per plan
t
v
n
a
h pme
elo
e
dv

Ar
we e pe
ll op
an as in le w
d i di ork
n t vid in
ea ua g
ms ls
?

Have you not

iced
that morale
and
motivation is
up in yoursel
f
and others?

154

The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

ge Are
tti th
ng in
do gs
ne
?

Do y
ou
focu constan
Team s on Ta tly
sk
, Ind
ividu ,
al?